"Yeah the one 50 years ago! Not this...." - Former tennis icons slam upcoming Battle of the Sexes clash

The Battle of the Sexes will return with Aryna Sabalenka taking on Nick Kyrgios in an exhibition event in Dubai, UAE, on 28th December. This matchup has not been taken kindly to by many former tennis stars, with Paul McNamee and Rennae Stubbs voicing their concerns over the clash.

It is following on from prior on court ties with a man playing against a woman. This first occurred back in May 1973 when Bobby Riggs clashed against Aussie legend Margaret Court. It was a comfortable win for the American, sweeping his opponent aside 6-2, 6-1.

However, later that year a tougher test would be waiting on the horizon in the form of Billie Jean King. In a huge match for women's tennis, King defeated Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in front of 30,000 spectators and up to 90 million viewers in one of the most followed sporting events of all time, let alone tennis.

King had done so much for the women's game, trying to make it equal with the men. She put herself under a lot of pressure to get the result needed to continue empowering women. “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. It would ruin the women’s [tennis] tour and affect all women’s self-esteem. To beat a 55-year-old guy was no thrill for me. The thrill was exposing a lot of new people to tennis,” King said after the match. From this win, the light was shone brightly on women's tennis, leading to tennis to become of the leading sports for women to this day.

Over 50 years later, and not everyone is happy with the Battle of the Sexes returning. The unfair advantage the former Wimbledon finalist will boast over Sabalenka points all the fingers to him coming out on top. This is why the organisers have tinkered round with the rules.

With this being an expedition clash, there is more leeway to change aspects of the matchup. This has been done to aid Sabalenka's chances and even out the playing field. Her side of the court has been shrunk 9% in both width and length, making it harder for the Aussie to consistently hit the ball in. As well as that, both players will only have one serve. This is to reduce the seemingly huge advantage Kyrgios would have, with his serve being known to be one of the biggest and best.

Former doubles number one McNamee shared his truthful opinions on the event, shedding light on the flawed rules. "Well… changing the dimensions of the court to being a smaller target for the guy, and not letting him have a first serve, says everything you need to know about this tbh," he wrote on X.

Still on X, another user shared their thoughts on the exhibition: "The Battle of the Sexes has a significant place in tennis history. In Aryna Sabalenka and Nick Kyrgios' version, it's unclear what is at stake, beyond the commoditisation of the name — and an invitation to criticize women's tennis after either result." This got a response from six-times Grand Slam doubles champion Stubbs, who reacted by writing: "Yeah the one 50 years ago! Not this...."

Up to 17,000 people will be seeing this first hand in the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai, with the players battling out for pride and bragging rights. It is also a chance to get into shape ahead of the upcoming season, with the world number one looking at winning her Australian Open title back after losing out in a surprising defeat to Madison Keys. As for Kyrgios, it is yet to be seen how long this return to tennis will last, with him still battling his persistent injury troubles.